It was late summer, and after a month of trying to limp our air conditioner along, it died. Fortunately, it was about this time when the Coolee portable air conditioner unit arrived.
Timing is everything in life.
What is a Coolee portable air conditioner?
In simple terms, the Coolee portable air conditioner turns ice into a cool vapor.
It can also be a portable ice-chest to keep things cool, and it has Bluetooth speakers.
It works by loading up the 14-quart chest with ice and then either running it off the integrated battery, plugging it into your house or car with built-in cables or with a portable power supply like the JackPak ($250).
There is an air intake in the back which sucks in the air inside the cooler. Then, a submerged water pump works with a built-in water cooling heat exchanger to send cool air into the expandable dual fans. The fan output is controlled by a water-resistant button console and each fan can be operated individually.
It is a pretty slick deal. Load it up, and cool air comes out with controlled fan speed output.
You can also use it as a portable cooler, complete with exterior pockets that zip closed.
There are also straps to carry it around. Keep in mind, it isn’t exactly light on its own, and loaded up, I can see it weighing more than 20-30 pounds. Coolee does offer a version with wheels and a pull handle. If you plan on making it a staple of your outdoor equipment, I’d opt for that one.
It is one of the most well-thought-out products I’ve seen, built for a variety of uses like a day at the beach, fishing on a hot day or, in our case, helping cool off the family.
How did it work?
Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, I was out of town when the air conditioner finally quit for the last time.
My wife was pretty pleased when I shared with her the Coolee was on its way. She eagerly opened the package and put it to work.
Naturally, I was curious on how it worked and she shared it worked well IF you had enough ice to keep it filled up and going. The fact is it can go through ice pretty fast if you run it continuously like she did in the house. Our refrigerator couldn’t make ice fast enough.
This meant she could use it to cool down a room for a few hours then had to wait for more ice. It became strategic on when she would use it to cool things down.
Fortunately, the weather changed and we got a new air conditioner the next week.
When I got home, I looked it over and I got pretty excited to try it out at the lake and at the golf course. It is just the right size to fit in the basket of the golf cart, and with the individual fans, well, I can see my golf buddies being pretty jealous next year.
The bottom line
I think the Coolee portable air conditioner is perfect for those outings when you need to cool off your drinks, yourself and even to relax with some music if you so choose. You just have to plan your ice usage or keep more on hand for longer periods of cooling.
You can buy one at Coolboss.com, and it retails for $340.
Editor’s note: Cool Boss provided Pickup Truck + SUV Talk the Coolee and Jetpak portable power bank at no cost to review.
